Clifton's Pacific Seas is reopening after 50+ years?!??! Or is it Clifton's Brookdale, the one that was just sold, the one with the Redwoods theme?
_________________Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Freelance, Ph.D., Th.D., D.F.S

This stems from the fact that Tiki style is, as far as I can see, the only pop culture that was firmly based on restaurant decor. It was the restaurants who introduced Tiki images to the people on a larger scale. It was the restaurants who had the money to go all out in the style, and thus inspired people to build their own backyard or downstairs Polynesias, and it was the restaurants that made developers utilize concepts like waterfalls, Tiki torches, and Tiki support posts for apartment buildings and motels. Only when that happened did Tiki become a pop genre BEYOND restaurants - but it is they who were the inventors of the style's language.

And here-in lies the crux and the contradiction for 21st Century Tiki restaurants: We want them to have the old classic Tiki temple decor, but we don't want to eat that ol' Chinese MSG glob there anymore. They have to come up with a Pacific rim modern version of that cuisine that makes them special, because nowadays there is ten-fold competition from all the other exotic cuisines available to the customer, while back in the mid-century, Chinese food was the most exotic food you could find.

hello all, a long time lurkers first post here.

sorry to dredge up an old thread, but this topic came up in a search, and i found the above statements very interesting. specifically, i was wondering if there were, or are any tiki restaurants or lounges that didn't specifically specialize in asian/poly/hawaiian/island cuisine? could one?

meaning, if it had authentic tiki decor, a specific craft tiki cocktail menu, but a non-descript food menu (burgers, steaks, pub fare, etc...), would you patronize the place? my thought is that the culture seems born out of cocktails & decor, but the food seems to be ancillary to some degree.

in another thread, there was discussion about how a tiki themed place might not be sustainable in some areas, and that you would need something "more" to offer instead of being a one trick pony. could a hybrid establishment exists if say, it provided a 60's era lounge atmosphere, contemporary american menu, and a tiki themed room or satellite lounge? does this exist somewhere?

i can't help but think that 50's & 60's era restaurants & lounges tried to get on the tiki bandwagon to some degree, even if it was a small "jungle room" or whatever that may have been part of an otherwise italian restaurant for example.

Welcome to Tiki Central Porco. Here is a link to El Tiki which was a Tiki restaturant that served Mexican food in the 60s & 70s. Decor was definitely Tiki with lots of carved Tikis outside, inside individual booths with thatched rooms, dried pufferfish, etc. The bar served beer, wine & sangria but I don't think they had a license for hard liquor. The only faux Polynesian food on the menu was ambrosia salad with canned fruit cocktail, sour cream, and coconut.
_________________When you hurry through life, you just get to the end faster.
Pirate Ship Tree House

Oh yeah, marshmallows too! The little multicolored ones It was real AUTHENTIC Mexican food, the head cook was a little old Mexican lady named Petra and I was the only one in the kitchen who spoke English. I learned a lot of Spanish working there.
_________________When you hurry through life, you just get to the end faster.
Pirate Ship Tree House

"...i was wondering if there were, or are any tiki restaurants or lounges that didn't specifically specialize in asian/poly/hawaiian/island cuisine? could one?

meaning, if it had authentic tiki decor, a specific craft tiki cocktail menu, but a non-descript food menu (burgers, steaks, pub fare, etc...), would you patronize the place? my thought is that the culture seems born out of cocktails & decor, but the food seems to be ancillary to some degree.

in another thread, there was discussion about how a tiki themed place might not be sustainable in some areas, and that you would need something "more" to offer instead of being a one trick pony. could a hybrid establishment exists if say, it provided a 60's era lounge atmosphere, contemporary american menu, and a tiki themed room or satellite lounge? does this exist somewhere?

i can't help but think that 50's & 60's era restaurants & lounges tried to get on the tiki bandwagon to some degree, even if it was a small "jungle room" or whatever that may have been part of an otherwise italian restaurant for example.

...But it's definitely one worth looking at if you're interested in the idea of a Tiki joint taht serves food not typically found in a Tiki joint.
_________________Attribution is the sincerest form of flattery.

very enlightening points from "bongo bungalow" with regards to mexican restaurants. i can't help but think that the modern mexican (tex-mex really) restaurant in some way mirrors the american tiki restaurant heyday.

is it because food is primarily the focus? is it because the food is better/more appealing? they're both (texmex/tiki) practically american inventions, but with american tiki culture being born out of primarily cocktails, does it have a disadvantage when it comes to a full fledged business? theme bars can prosper in locations with high traffic and other options, but they limit themselves from "regulars" relying on tourist traffic.

i guess my whole point is, why isn't there more prevalence of tiki rooms or patio bars in otherwise non-tiki establishments? how many people here have or would decorate their entire home in tiki? i would assume most is confined to one room, a basement, or patio. so why shouldn't this carry through on a business level?

is the idea of an all out tiki establishment too much? do you need to have a german or italian theme throughout if your place has a great selection of import beer or wine? if the focal point is the cocktails, then why not reserve a small space within your establishment dedicated to such?